I have almost made it through Conference Week - last night was the toughest, but I got to leave by about 7:15 PM. I finally stopped by Kinko's to make copies of the personalized coloring page I made for my niece - it has her name in the middle, with all sorts of images (fairies, hearts, butterflies, princesses, etc) to color. She seemed to really like the ones I did for Christmas and for myself, so I am going to send her that and some other things I've done along with the giant Elmers glue paint set I bought at Costco. I hope she likes it!

Yesterday, I think that my conferences went pretty well. I spoke bad Spanish, and got family members to help me when I couldn't think of a word, or when I couldn't understand what was being said. One mother had no idea why her daughter could have possible been assigned ISS (In School Suspension) for being in the bathroom (for two hours...). We went round and round on that, until I finally said that they would have to speak directly with the teacher that assigned the ISS. This morning, I looked their daughter in the eye and made her know that I knew she knew what she had done wrong...

I also had a philosophical conversation with another set of parents about their son's choices of t-shirts to wear to school. Just yesterday, I had him sent to the resource officer to give up a t-shirt with banditos weilding pistols on the back. I patiently explained that NO representation of alcohol, tobacco, or weapons was allowed on school wear - regardless of the cultural or historical context!

All in all, the parents who showed up were genuinely concerned about their children's education. But, as with many families, both parents are usually working, or there's just a single mother, trying to support the family. They don't have time or energy to monitor clothing, study habits, or grades of their charges. I found myself repeating my pat advice over and over again - make your child study at least an hour a night (even when he or she says he or she has finished homework!). Have your child read the textbooks and notes more than once... blah, blah, blah. There's only so much I can do!

So, I am tired, and am looking forward to leaving early on Friday, and to having Monday off. I plan to sleep all weekend. Not really.